Our new Indie Games subforum is now open for business in G&T. Go and check it out, you might land a code for a free game. If you're developing an indie game and want to post about it, follow these directions. If you don't, he'll break your legs! Hahaha! Seriously though.

Our rules have been updated and given their own forum. Go and look at them! They are nice, and there may be new ones that you didn't know about! Hooray for rules! Hooray for The System! Hooray for Conforming!

a step above what you suspect the daily work attire would be. i.e. if daily attire is slacks and a button up shirt, make sure you wear a nice jacket that matches your shirt, and a tie. heck, it's hard to go wrong with a well fitted suit

Unless the job is McDonalds or AutoZone, a suit & tie/blazer & skirt is the way to go.

I wore a suit and tie to every job interview I ever had since senior year in high school, including crappy summer college jobs and the pizza delivery job post-graduation while waiting for a teaching position.

I know for a fact the suit is what separated me from the other candidates in at least two interviews and helped get me the jobs. One boss said that it showed that I took the potential job - crappy, low status job that it was (his words) - seriously.

Now, I've been on the other side as a member of interview panels. And we expect suits/professional attire. Not coming dressed appropriately can kill your chances. And a suit is never inappropriate.

EDIT: Ah, misread your question. And fuck, no, it's not. It displays a remarkable lack of, well, any sort of common sense. If in doubt, suit up! Seriously, who needs to call and ask?

a step above what you suspect the daily work attire would be. i.e. if daily attire is slacks and a button up shirt, make sure you wear a nice jacket that matches your shirt, and a tie. heck, it's hard to go wrong with a well fitted suit

The last part of this is the only part that's true. A step above the daily work attire at my company would be shoes (rather than sandals) and clothes that fit and don't have witty slogans printed on them; but anyone who showed up to an interview dressed merely like that would pretty much be summarily rejected.

On rare occasions, I've had companies specifically tell me that casual dress was accepted/expected for interviews, but other than that you should always wear a suit.

a step above what you suspect the daily work attire would be. i.e. if daily attire is slacks and a button up shirt, make sure you wear a nice jacket that matches your shirt, and a tie. heck, it's hard to go wrong with a well fitted suit

The last part of this is the only part that's true. A step above the daily work attire at my company would be shoes (rather than sandals) and clothes that fit and don't have witty slogans printed on them; but anyone who showed up to an interview dressed merely like that would pretty much be summarily rejected.

On rare occasions, I've had companies specifically tell me that casual dress was accepted/expected for interviews, but other than that you should always wear a suit.

It's kinda a niche field, but i've had a couple small company IT manager bosses who pretty much instantly rejected anyone who showed up for an interview in a suit. Suits are still king for big corporations but my experience has been a boss who shows up for work in a t-shirt every day doesn't necessarily approve of employees outdressing him, even at interviews

I usually would go for some dress slacks, a dress shirt, a nice jacket, and a tie (though not necessarily a suit). Then if I feel overdressed, I can take off the tie after I meet reception or whatever.

Depends what field you work in, I'm in industrial trades myself so every interview I ever go to is wearing a nicely fitted pair of jeans with a dress shirt, tucked in. It has never failed me. Hell, I deliver my resumes wearing the same sort of outfit. It's never failed to get me a job, if I go into an interview, I get hired. Every time. If I wore a suit, they'd think I wasn't ready to get my hands dirty

If everyone is in overalls and covered in grease, then a nice pair of jeans and collared button up shirt would be acceptable (dont forget a belt). If everyone is in casual business you go in a full business suit. Everyone in business suits? Bust out the three piece.

Its a weird question and to me says, "I don't know what professional means so why don't you tell me..."

This.

Not the image you want to create for yourself right before an interview.

There's nothing wrong with asking, but you should be more tactful than "How should I come dressed".
Do you want to work for a company that comes down on a prospective employee for asking something simple like if you should wear a tie to an interview?

As a general rule I always wear a shirt and tie with some nice pants. Unless you're going for something very high profile you shouldn't need to wear a suit. By the time you need to start wearing a suit to interviews you'll have enough of a professional career established that you will know when to wear a suit.

I just interviewed at an insurance company on Wednesday a shirt and tie and I was the one who was over dressed. I wanted to wear my suit because I don't really have any other reasons to wear it unless a family member dies, but I didn't have time to get it all set up.

It's not a matter of whether it's a rude question, and it's definitely key to the industry. In many jobs, being smart enough and aware enough of social mores to figure out what you should wear is an indicator of whether you're mentally equipped to work in that type of professional atmosphere. It isn't true for all industries, however.

"Well, look at this. Appears we got here just in the nick of time. What's that make us?"
"Big Damn Heroes, Sir."
"Ain't we just."

Whether it's ok to ask might depend on the size of the company. At my 10,000 employee company, HR is pretty much an admin in another building when it comes to hiring. They send you appropriate resumes, set up interview schedules, and answer the applicant's questions about benefits, but they don't communicate opinions about the candidate's behavior back to the hiring manager. At a 50 employee company, the HR person is getting drinks with the hiring manager after work and telling hilarious HR stories.

Also, whether it's appropriate to ask probably depends on the industry -- like whether there's any variation between companies. In banking, it would be weird to ask. In software development, less so.

Its a weird question and to me says, "I don't know what professional means so why don't you tell me..."

This.

Not the image you want to create for yourself right before an interview.

There's nothing wrong with asking, but you should be more tactful than "How should I come dressed".
Do you want to work for a company that comes down on a prospective employee for asking something simple like if you should wear a tie to an interview?

It's not that the company would be "coming down on a prospective employee". By asking the question, the prospective employee is signaling "I don't belong here. I am not from your tribe. Please tell me the unspoken rules".

It's not a big deal by any means, but many times there are multiple similarly skilled applicants for the same position. When this happens, hire/reject can come down subconsciously to unimportant trivial bullshit.

(i.e If you are interviewing for construction work... Don't worry about coming in with Jeans and Steel Toe Boots, If you are interviewing to work in Walmart... Wear White shirt with Blue vest so you look like a worker there already.)

Oh god do not wear clothes that look like the uniform to a job. Oh my god that is hysterically bad advice.

unless you are going to video tape it and put it on the internet.

Which you won't be able to afford, because you're unemployed.

Don't do this.

A suit/tie can be overdressed even for office jobs, but that's pretty rare. Like at the two coffee roasters I visited where a Timbuk2/Crumple bag apparently comes standard-issue.

If you're interviewing at a young and hipster small business, you really need to look like you belong there. But you should still dress nice. Maybe wear your Five Fingers instead of loafers, but still some nice khakis and a polo.

Oh god do not wear clothes that look like the uniform to a job. Oh my god that is hysterically bad advice.

Im glad someone said this already so i dont have to type it. I literally laughed, i thought it was a joke until i realised that was the last line.

Also, dont ask what to wear. Seriously. Unless its for a followup interview or something, and the interviewer specifically mentioned your dress in the first interview (like, "hahaha youre way overdressed for this! Anyway, down to business...").

Riddle me this - if a company specifically tells you a dress code during an interview (smart casual, as I would expect) and you don't get the job, and apply for a similar position in a different branch of the same company a year later and they don't mention it, how do you dress?

I'm expecting the same, but as they didn't explicitly say it, I'm concerned.